MR Jarinko Chie

...And here's one more entry for my Studio Ghibli Marathon reviews!

This time one of the lesser known movies, but an important one nonetheless!
Yet another movie directed by (then-future) Studio Ghibli's legendary Isao Takahata.

Did it disappear into obscurity due to its quality? Is it any good? And More importantly, what's it about?....

Movie: Jarinko Chie aka Chie the Brat in English
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1981
Genre Anime/comedy
Country Japan

Jarinko Chie was originally a very popular manga series by Etsumi Haruki pre-published in the pages of the magazine Manga Action from 1978 to 1997 (!) and has been collected in the form of a series of 67 volumes.
Which, by the way, was one of the longest manga series until not that long ago.

The title roughly means "Chie the brat".
(though as you may note, my copy's called "Kié" instead of "Chié", because it's a French release and)

Isao Takahata decided to adapt this episodic manga into a full length feature with an animated studio at Toho, and Yōichi Kotabe and Yasuo Otsuka as chef animators.

It is the story of this little girl Chie, in a heart warming movie than contains both comedy and more serious elements.

Not your daddy's little girl so much, heh?

Chie is the "most unfortunate girl in Japan".
She is about 8 years old. Her parents just got separated.
By day, Chie has to go to school, study on her own and take care of the bullies from class. The rest of the day, she manages her father's own little restaurant on her own.

You see, her father Tetsu is a big goof. He spends most of his time fighting other people or spending his all of his savings on games.
That is why Chie's mom leaved him actually. Tetsu isn't a very present dad nor a very responsible adult. He doesn't take care of his daughter much and has never been able to hold a job for long.

One night while taking care of the family business, Chie helps a little stray cat that starts hanging around afterwards...

This might all sound sort of depressing and all...but it is actually a very funny story, with some very personal signature touches like what you'd expect from a Takahata movie.

More like little skits put together than anything sporting a real overarching story.
The characters, as cartoony as they faces might be, feel real. "Complete."

The art style, in the pure style of classic 4-koma mangas (comic strips), is very caricatural. Characters have huge noses, big square jaws, giant ears... It helps defines them and recognise them in a glance.
This animated movie actually mimics and captured the art style of the original manga perfectly.

Over the various little "plots", the characters develops. The dad decides to give Chie more attention, Chie opens up to her father as well and even the random thugs/yakuzas they meet got their own change of hearts with the contact with this "little brat".

Unrealistic situations and cartoony characters..but a real heart beneath it all.

The cat(s) even have their own whole side story, culminating in an epic final confrontation at the end.
They walk on two legs, talk, can kick some serious butts...and it all comes down to family ties, honor and maturity.

Chie continues to see her mother behind Tetsu's back.. She misses her and would have preferred to stay with her...
A strange turn of events give the parents a chance to become a family again...

It is a very sweet (everything turns out for the better!)  yet rooted in the reality of many children. Not exclusively in Japan.
The story is set in Osaka, which is a nice change from the usual Tokyo from most of these sort of movies/animes. There's a different, friendlier and more open culture. (Tetsu's police officer friend comes to mind) Even the bad guys aren't that bad in the end..

The music composed by Shinsuke Kazato, even if simple, is nice and memorable.
The theme song is particularly catchy and comes at various points under different styles.

Overall, it is a very nice movie.
The animation didn't age that much and it's fast pace enough to feel fun and fresh today as well.

It might feel like a bunch of stories glued together, but there's some character development as well.

It is sadly very difficult to find. Your only choice might be to import a copy of the DVD.
I've only come across online the Japanese DVD (which has English subtitles anyway) and a very rare French release. (which I ended up ordering from the publisher!).

The movie was a modest but success enough.
It was then followed by a 64-episode TV series by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. With Takahata working on it as chief director. Followed then by a sequel series of 30 episodes itself.

Worth a look for Ghibli or Takahata fans!

I give it:

2 / 3 DonPatchis!